


High Definition

by Mae_Grayson



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Child Neglect, Enemies to Lovers, Friends With Benefits, Hinata Hajime and Kamukura Izuru Are Siblings, Hinata Hajime and Kamukura Izuru Are Twins, Hinata Hajime and Kamukura Izuru are Separate People, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Reserve Course (Dangan Ronpa), Talentless Hajime, Tired Hinata Hajime, Top Komaeda Nagito, Tutor Hajime
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:23:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29795328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mae_Grayson/pseuds/Mae_Grayson
Summary: When the Headmaster forces the Ultimates to take the same exams as the reserve course, Class 77-B turns to Kamukura for help. However, he can't be bothered so he forces the position on to his brother.Hajime Hinata, reserve course student, becomes the tutor to a class of ultimates. He quickly earns the dislike of Nagito Komaeda, yet he guy wont leave him alone.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime & Kamukura Izuru, Hinata Hajime & Nanami Chiaki, Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito
Comments: 34
Kudos: 167





	1. I Need To Feel Needed and I Need It More Than I Let On

“Hello everyone,” Headmaster Kirigiri said as he stood at the front of the classroom, “I have to say it is quite amazing to see all of you in one place without even having to track you down. But I shouldn’t expect anything less from you Ultimates.”

Chiaki smiles and says, “That’s all thanks to Ms. Yukizome, she really did bring us all together.”

Headmaster Kirigiri notices many of the student’s heads nodding in agreement, “Well isn’t that wonderful, I’ll have to thank her later when she comes back.”

Mahiru shyly raises her hand, “So you know where she is? She’s usually here before any of us come in.”

He clasps his hands together, “Yes, I asked her to come in a little late so I could have this talk with all of you.” 

He pauses after seeing some concerned faces, “Oh don’t worry, it has nothing to do with any trouble. While it pertains to all the Ultimate students, I felt this was better talked about in each classroom rather than a school wide assembly.”

He continues, “Recently Hope’s Peak has been receiving endless amounts of backlash due to the hierarchy of the students enrolled in the main course, as opposed to those enrolled in the reserve course. Especially with the large price of admission for the reserve students. Therefore, the board has thought it over and came to a conclusion that will hopefully please and benefit both sides.”

“While I know that this plan may not seem ideal to those of you in this program, Hope’s Peak Academy is known to help create hope for our world, and I strongly believe that this new way of exams will only serve to make this hope stronger.”

He walks towards the students, “That being said, it has been decided that all of the Ultimates shall take the same exams as the Reserve Course students. However,” He pauses, “The same expulsion standard will be held when it comes to failing grades.”

The kids fall silent. 

Kazuichi wearily raises his hand, “Um, excuse me sir? No disrespect but we haven’t taken any school classes in over a year, how are we supposed to pass?”

“You are all Ultimates, I’m sure if you work together, something truly hopeful will occur.”

___________________________ 

As soon as the Headmaster left, the class broke out into chaos.

“Exams?” Akane exclaims, “How the hell are we even supposed to train for them? I’ve seen some of the assignments those reserves are given. They’re like college level!”

Hanamura had taken to crying over his desk, “My momma’s gonna be so disappointed in me, now our diner’s never gonna make it!”

“He did say we’d get expelled right?” Ibuki asks nervously, “Because Ibuki really likes it here with all of you guys and doesn’t wanna be expelled!”

The rest of the class said similar things, and even Chiaki was looking a bit nervous. 

Here at Hope’s Peak, the Ultimates were expected to further their talent’s everyday. And while sure they slacked off a lot, pursuing their talent’s took time. And with no real teachers, most of them haven’t had any school-related classes since middle school.

And with most of their eclectic talents, it’s safe to say that many of them struggle academically.

“Oh come on guys, this seems a bit pitiful, don’t you think?” Nagito says from his seat with a smile, “You’re all symbols of hope and yet you’re letting these measly exams and the threat of expulsion get to you? Maybe you all should be expelled, bring in some more suited ultimates.”

Fuyuhiko glares as he walks over to his desk, Peko watching from a distance, “Listen here, Komaeda, just because you have ‘Ultimate Luck’ or whatever, doesn’t make you any more likely to pass these tests than we are. You’re just as fucked and you know it.”

Nagito just continues smiling, “Well then, Fuyuhiko, why don’t you Ultimates do something about it, then, huh? I believe the answer is right in front of you.”

He gestures to Kamukura who was seated at the desk in front of him.

Kazuichi wastes no time getting up from his desk and darting over to Kamukura’s.

“C’mon Kamukura, you’re our only hope!” Kazuichi begs.

Without changing his gaze from outside the window, Kamukura replies, “While I am the  _ Ultimate Hope _ , I am not your ‘only hope.’ Therefore, I’d rather not get involved in whatever you wish to drag me in to.”

“Why not, man?” Kazuichi had tears in his eyes now as if he was already getting expelled.

Shifting his eyes towards the mechanic, he says, “There is absolutely no benefit of me doing so, meaning I do not necessarily need to participate in this situation. Sounds quite boring.”

Fuyuhiko squints his eyes as he stands next to Kazuichi, “You know what, I’m sure it will be boring. I mean why would anyone want to tutor a bunch of dumbass, ultimates, y’know?”

“Dude! You’re supposed to be helping, not encouraging him!” Kazuichi exclaims.

The rest of the class was watching with bated breath, as much as the rest of them hated to admit it, they all needed his help as well. Sure Ms. Yukizome got them all to attend class, but they never really learned anything. It was more bonding and socializing time. They were Ultimates after all, they were under the impression that their exams were based on their ultimate talent, not how to solve some meaningless algebra equation.

Fuyuhiko walks forward, placing a hand on Kamukura’s desk, “Well you see, that’s the thing now, isn’t it? If you refuse to help us, we’ll all be hopelessly under prepared for the exams and flunk out of Hope's peak. Wouldn’t it be boring to sit in the same classroom every day by yourself?”

Kamukura let out an annoyed sigh, “While I do not care about your fates at this school, I’ll ask my brother to assist if it means you’ll all leave me alone.”

“Hell yea-” Fuyuhiko starts and then, “Wait brother?”

“Ibuki did not know that Kamukura has a brother!”

Hiyoko smiled devilishly, “Can we meet him? Y’know we gotta make sure he is able to help us.”

“Field trip!” Ibuki exclaims and they all go to leave the classroom despite having no idea who or where to find his brother. 

Kamukura however doesn’t move from his seat by the window, Nagito is still seated behind him.

He gives Kamukura a poke, “Hey Kamukura, how come you never told us about this ‘brother’ of yours. You didn’t just make him up to get everyone to leave, did you?”

Kamukura barely shifts his gaze backwards, “No, Komaeda I’m not like you. My brother does actually exist, however, it has never been any of your business before.”

“So why now?” He asks.

“Why not?”

___________________________

Hajime let out an exhausted sigh as he took out his lunch at his desk. 

A few others stayed behind as well, as the cafeteria was always overcrowded and with their rigorous academic schedule, the silence of an empty classroom was always welcomed. 

However, the second Hajime lifted his meal to his mouth the whispers started and a figure with flowing black hair appeared in front of him.

He sighed and put his food back down, just one day of peace was all he asked for.

“Hajime.” Was all the other said.

He sarcastically glared up, “Hello to you too, Izuru. What are you doing here?”

He could hear the whispers around him, “Yo, is that Kamakura from the main course?”

And then the response of, “Why does Hinata know the Ultimate Hope?”

Ignoring the whispers around them, Izuru turns his back to Hajime, “Come with me.”

“No.”

He rolls his eyes, “Hajime do not be difficult.”

“No, this is my only time to eat, I would like to relax and not embark on whatever shit you’re bringing me into. Unlike you I have to attend all my classes  _ and  _ pay attention.” He says as he picks up his food again.

“Fine then.” He begins to walk away, “I guess I must bring my class to you instead.”

Hajime’s eyes widened and he quickly packed up his lunch, the last thing he needed was the entire class of second year ultimates to show up in his classroom.

He curses under his breath before running after his brother.

They walk up to the main gates and Hajime stops him, “You know I’m not allowed to enter, why did you bring me here.”

Izuru ignores him and nods to the guards, “He’s a reserve course student, but he’s assisting me with a project. Please allow him to enter.”

The guards look between each other before letting them both through, but Hajime didn’t miss the look they gave him. He’d be getting hell the next time they saw him. 

“Are you going to tell me what this is all about now? I only have thirty minutes of lunch left and it’s a seven minute walk back to my campus.” Hajime explains.

Izuru just keeps leading him through the halls and into a classroom on the second floor.

“I brought him, now you can all leave me alone.” Izuru promptly turns back out of the room, abandoning his brother.

“Izuru-” Hajime called but was promptly ignored. 

“Ooh, they’re on a first name basis,” A boy with white hair smiles at him and walks up to him, “You must be the mysterious brother of the Ultimate Hope! But, now correct me if I’m wrong, that is a reserve course uniform you are wearing, is it not?”

Hajime freezes, he should have known that they would put him down, they were Ultimates after all.

“Komaeda be nice, he’s here to help.” A pink haired girl says quietly, “If he’s from the reserve course that just means that he’s pretty smart, right?”

Hajime scratches the back of his neck, “I mean I’m not too smart, I’m just average.”

Komaeda speaks up, “Exactly, he’s average, why should you all accept help from him? He’s below even trash like me! No wonder Kamukura kept him a secret, who would want to admit that they have a  _ reserve _ sibling with no talent.”

Hajime glared back, he wasn’t taking this shit, his day sucked enough, “Well look,  _ Komaeda _ , I didn’t ask to be here either. Izuru just showed up and told me to follow him or he'd make a scene in front of my whole class. I still have no idea what the hell you guys want with me.”

A pink haired guy with a beanie smiles and places a hand on his shoulder, “Oh you should have just said so! They’re implementing the same exams that you guys have to take, and a lot of us are um… not exactly smart I guess.”

A shorter guy stepped in, “He means that we need a tutor. Kamukura refused and then grabbed you so we would stop bothering him about it.”

Hajime’s shoulders deflated, leaving it to Izuru to get him into these situations.

“Do I have to?” He asks, “I barely have enough time to do my own work as it is.”

The pink haired girl spoke up for everyone, “Just one hour after school everyday, please! We can use the rest of the school day to practice what you taught us.”

Hajime looked at her, and then at the clock, there was exactly nine minutes until his afternoon classes began, giving him less than two minutes to wrap this up.

The girl in front of him was determined and he knew she wouldn’t back down and as much as he really hated getting involved in Izuru’s schemes, he would get him back for this later, whenever he stayed at his apartment next. 

As he looked over to the asshole with cloud hair,  _ Komaeda _ , he knew he had to accept. He knew he wasn’t on the same level as the Ultimates, Hajime had grown up with Izuru after all, but the way that guy looked at him, it pissed him off. Almost like he wrote him off before he’d even tried.

He looked at the clock, one minute.

“Fine, one hour after school, everyday but Friday. And Izuru has to be there or I won’t do it.” Hajime says and then turns around, “Now if you’ll excuse me I have to get to class.”

Once he’s out of earshot Nagito sighs, “Man, turning his back on Ultimates like you guys? How disrespectful.”

Akane shrugged, “If I grew up alongside Kamukura I probably wouldn’t be too impressed by us either.”

Nidai joins in, “He did say he has to get to class as well. How do you expect him to teach us if he doesn’t attend his own classes?”

Nagito hummed, “He’s just some kid from the reserve class, should you all really be putting your faith in some reject?”

Kamukura appeared behind him, red eyes glowing, “You should watch what you say, Komaeda.”

That shut him up.

___________________________

Hajime should have known he wouldn’t make it to class on time. The way the guards looked at him earlier, he should have expected it.

And yet no one even glanced up when he came to class 15 minutes late with a swollen cheek. He just took a seat at his desk and pulled out his notebook.

___________________________

The next morning his cheek was no longer swollen but he was sporting a pretty bad bruise. He sighed, he’d just tell Izuru that he’d fallen out of bed or something. 

He packed up his bag before grabbing his lunch and heading out.

___________________________

As Hajime was walking out of the reserve building he was about to pull out his phone to call Izuru to let him into the main building, when he spotted the pink haired girl from yesterday.

She looked up from her game when he approached her, “Hello Kamukura!”

Hajime’s eyes squinted, “Kamukura? I’m not Izuru.”

The girl tilted her head, “But aren’t you two brothers?”

His eyes widened in realization, “Oh, right. Um, he has my mother's name. I go by my fathers,” He puts out a hand, “I guess I never introduced myself yesterday, I’m Hajime Hinata.”

The girl gives him a small smile, “Hello Hinata, I’m Chiaki Nanami.”

He smiles back and begins to follow her, “You didn’t have to come and pick me up, I could have just texted Izuru.”

“It’s honestly no trouble, everyone is really excited for our first lesson.”

Hajime lets out a nervous laugh, “Well I don’t know how great of a teacher I am, but I’ll try my best.”

They get to the gates, “Thank you, Hinata.”

The guards look Hajime up and down, “Hey kid, I’m pretty sure we made it pretty clear that the reserve students aren’t allowed on the main campus.”

Chiaki speaks up, “It’s alright sir, he’s helping my class study. We have permission from our homeroom teacher if you need to ask her.”

Hajime already knew that this was a bad idea, but the fact that Izuru was even willing to help his classmates was a big deal. A year ago he would have just told them all to unkindly fuck off. But he enlisted his help instead, and Hajime didn't want to let him down. 

He’d deal with the guards later.

He owed Izuru a lot. Even just being at Hope’s Peak Academy in the first place. 

They walked into the building and Chiaki led them into their classroom since it was the easiest place to have everyone.

“You can kind of set up wherever you want, we don’t really have any extra desks. But we thought you could just use the front of the classroom?” She says lacking the confidence she had had on the way over.

He gave her a smile, “That’s probably best. I don’t have much of a plan set for today so we can figure out where you all want to start.”

A lot of blank faces stared back at him.

He coughed awkwardly, “Well, um, are you taking all of the reserve course exams? Or are there specific subjects?”

Chiaki speaks up beside him, “I believe it said all subjects.”

“Okay then does anyone have a specific subject they would like to start out with?” He started, “We could do Biology, English, Pre-calculus-”

He heard one of them laugh, “Did you say pre-calculus? Isn’t that a bit advanced?”

Hajime looked away, “Well the 2nd year reserve students are currently enrolled in Calc AB, and next year we will do Calc BC. But I figured that you guys would want to start at pre-calc instead.”

They all looked nervous.

“Maybe we should start with Geometry and Algebra first…”

Hajime pulled out his laptop and set it on the teachers desk, math was one of his stronger subjects, numbers always seemed to make sense to him. He quickly looked up some algebra practice problems to get a baseline for what they do and do not know.

However, when he glanced back up, Izuru was staring intensely at him, “What?”

The rest of the class will never get used to the way that he treats Izuru.

“What happened to your cheek?” Izuru asked, but it sounded more like a statement.

Hajime refused to break eye contact, “I fell out of bed this morning, anything else?”

“I’m staying over this weekend.”

Hajime let out a laugh, “Good luck with that, we both know you aren’t allowed to.”

Izuru just glares back as Hajime picks up a marker to write on the board, “So I’m going to put a few problems up for you guys to try and solve for x, just so I can see a baseline for what you already learned.”

He watches Chiaki take a seat, “Also just to clear this up, my last name isn’t Kamukura. Yes, I’m still Izuru’s twin but I go by Hinata, please do not refer to me as Kamukura.”

___________________________

The first study session went well, but he had a long way to go to get them up to Reserve Course knowledge. Exams were in four months, and they had more to cover than Hajime would like. He could always increase the study time, but that would include a lot less sleep on his part.

But that girl, Nanami, was so determined, and everyone was counting on him.

He didn’t want to let them all down.

The guards didn’t leave any bruises this time, instead they just resorted to taunting him as he left.

The walk home went quickly and the sun was beginning to set, it was later than he was used to getting home, but it wasn’t like anyone was waiting for him anyway.

He set down his backpack, started dinner and did his homework.

At least tomorrow was Friday.

___________________________

Hajime just wanted one peaceful day, just one.

But when that loud pink haired kid showed up at his classroom during his lunch, he resisted the urge to bang his head against the desk.

“Hinata, man! How are you doing?” He said as he took a seat in front of him.

“I’m doing okay I guess- Oh, um, I never got your name.” Hajime replies awkwardly, he could feel the gazes of his remaining classmates on his back.

The guy laughs awkwardly, “My bad. The name’s Kazuichi Soda.”

“Alright, then is there something you need, Soda?” He asks as he starts to eat, he wasn’t about to go all day without it again.

Kazuichi places his notebook on Hajime’s desk, careful to avoid the other’s lunch.

“I’ve always been pretty good at math, I have to be for mechanics, so I finished your practice problems this morning and I was just wondering if you could look them over for me?” Soda asks carefully.

Hajime cocks an eyebrow, “Sure, I’ve got the answer key in my bag. If you did well I could give you some more challenging ones to try.”

As he reaches into his backpack he hears, “That’d be great dude, thanks.”

It wasn’t as bad as Hajime thought, Soda had gotten 1/20 questions wrong, and so he gave him some higher level pre-calc problems to try over the weekend.

He didn't want to admit it, but the company was nice.

___________________________

Izuru was waiting for him by the gates after school that day.

“I’m not tutoring today, I don’t need an escort.” He says.

His brother’s long hair fell in front of his face as he walked with Hajime, “You told me you weren’t working anymore.”

“And what makes you think I am?”

“The fact that you set the rule of no tutoring on Fridays, you always worked the weekends.”

Hajime laughs hollowly, “I could just be tired, Izuru. I am human, unlike you, us humans get tired.”

He glares, “And I’m not an idiot, I know all of your tells when you lie. For example, I know for a fact that you did not ‘fall out of bed’ on your face, Hajime.”

“Can you prove it?” He spit back.

“Why don’t you just let me spend the weekend at your apartment so you can prove me wrong?”

Hajime stops, “You can’t stay the night anywhere besides Hope’s Peak without a parent’s permission, Izuru. I’m not an idiot either. I’ve read your contract for being an Ultimate. Besides, do you want to get me in more trouble with our mother? Look it’s not what you’re thinking.”

“I can get permission from our father.”

Hajime laughs, “Good luck, I haven’t heard from him in months. If you get a hold of him, let him know I’m still waiting for that rent money.”

Izuru stands and looks at Hajime, his eyes widening slightly, a big show of emotion for him, “Then why don’t you call the police? We’re still minors, Hajime. You shouldn’t be supporting yourself alone at sixteen.”

“He’ll be back, eventually. Besides, custody of me would just be given to mom. And that’d be worse than working.” He checks his phone, “Look, Izuru. I’ve got a shift to get to. Trust me when I say drop it, okay?”

He left Izuru standing at the end of Hope’s Peak campus. Sure they were twins, nearly identical besides eyes and hair. But they are part of two different worlds. 

But Izuru never stopped worrying since the first time Hajime was left alone. Despite almost three years passing since then, he doesn’t want to watch Hajime work himself to death all over again. 

Hajime and their mother had never quite gotten along, and she doesn’t let Izuru stay with him very much. But on those rare occasions in which he did, their father was always flakey at best, and he relied on Hajime for basically everything around the house.

And while Hajime seems to be doing well in his classes and helping out the Ultimates, that job that he forced himself to work at didn’t go away.

As much as he hated to admit it, things haven’t changed.

___________________________

“Hello, Nanami.” He greets as he catches up with her at the gates on Monday afternoon.

She glances up from her DS and gives him a wide smile, “Hinata! I was hoping you hadn’t left yet.”

He raises an eyebrow, “Why would I have? Everyone still wants me to teach, right?”

“Of course,” She pockets the device as they start walking, “It was just getting a little late, most of the reserve students left already.”

“I’m, um, sorry about that, Nanami. I had a quick question about one of the comments on my last english paper, so I stayed behind to ask the teacher about it.”

“It’s no problem, really! I was just worried you may have changed your mind about wanting to help us.”

Hajime’s eyes widened, “Nah, nothing like that. It’s not like Izuru to ask for favors like this, don’t want to let him down, you know?” 

He spluttered for a second, “Um, not that I want to let you guys down, either.”

Nanami lets out a small laugh, “That’s sweet that you care about Izuru. A lot of people in our class seem to have given up on talking to him, he just kind of pushes us away anyway.”

Hajime lets out a sigh, “Yeah, that’s Izuru. He does mean well, I promise, he’s just kind of like that I guess. But I promise he’s human just like the rest of us, he just doesn’t like to show it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She says with a smile.

They reach the guards and they stop Hajime, “Sorry kid, we keep telling you that you aren’t allowed on this part of campus. Rules are rules.”

“Excuse me, sir. But Hinata is assisting our class to help us prepare for the exams in a few months. Ms. Yukizome is aware that he’s coming on campus, I’m sure the Headmaster knows as well.”

They sigh but glare at Hinata, “We will be following up to make sure that is true.”

Chiaki bites her lip but nods and leads Hajime into the building.

“I don’t want to make trouble for you guys, the guards are only doing their jobs.” Hajime quietly says.

She shakes her head, “It’s no trouble, Hinata. I don’t get why they give you so much slack for it, though.”

They arrive at the classroom and Izuru walks right up to him, “Your eye bags are huge.”

“Thank you Izuru, always a pleasure.” Hajime just sighs as he walks to the desk at the front to unpack.

Izuru follows him over, “You know I wasn’t pointing them out to pick on you. How many hours did you work this weekend?”

“Does it matter?” Hajime takes out his laptop and logs in.

“Yes.”

“Fine, I think it was twenty-one or so.”

Izuru stares at him, “And how many hours did you sleep?”

Hajime looks up from his laptop and glares back at his gaze, “What are you, my parent?”

“No, I worry more than they do.”

“Oh, fuck off, Izuru. Can we not do this in front of your whole class? I’d like to have some dignity left, please.”

Izuru goes to open his mouth but is cut off by Komaeda in the back row, “Wow, can you believe he talks to the Ultimate Hope like that? How disrespectful. No wonder why he’s just some reserve student, he doesn’t deserve to be in a room with all of you Ultimates.”

Izuru glares as he makes his way to Komaeda’s desk and Hajime replies before he could do anything rash, “Well, Komaeda, it’s kind of hard to be starstruck by the ‘Ultimate Hope’ when you grew up alongside him, you know?”

“So? Anyone would be truly lucky to grow up with someone like Kamukura, you wish you had one strand of talent that he has. Instead you’re just a worthless piece of-”

Izuru cut him off by slamming his hand on Komaeda’s desk, watching as the white haired boy visibly flinched back, “I told you to watch what you say, did I not? Just because Hajime doesn’t worship the ground beneath my feet doesn’t make him ‘worthless.’ In fact it makes him a lot more tolerable to be around.”

He leans in closer and Komaeda forces himself further back in his seat, “And if you seem to somehow have forgotten that messed up head of yours, Hajime and I are twins, meaning that he’s seen me have meltdowns as a child, just as I have to him. I trust that you have at least one braincell to know what will happen if you continue to harass him?”

Komaeda manages a smile, “Loud and clear, Kamukura.”

Hajime just clears his throat and gives Izuru a small nod, “Well then, why don’t we start by going over those practice problems I gave you all yesterday.”

They all take their notebooks out and Hajime says, “Actually, I don’t think I have all of your names yet, so why don’t we start with basic introductions? Feel free to include your Ultimate talents, but it’s not necessary. I don’t have one, so who am I to judge, right?”

They all gave him a weary smile after hearing the end of his sentence and knowing it was directly acknowledging what Komaeda had said. 

Izuru gave one last glare to Komaeda before taking his seat.

___________________________

He couldn’t escape the guards that day.

“Hey, kid!” One of the guards sneers, “Just because you have permission from a homeroom teacher doesn’t mean you belong in that building.”

He twists Hajime’s arm behind his back before shoving him up against the brick wall, scraping Hajime’s face while doing so.

“We’re just making sure you know your place,” They release him, “Just some reserve course idiot, thinking he’s gonna be an Ultimate, as if.”

Hajime just puts his head down to hide the tears that pricked at his eyes.

He just wanted the day to end.

___________________________

The next day Hajime heard the familiar whispers in his classroom, and he almost expected it to be Soda with another math question. 

Instead in front of his desk stood Pekoyama, the Ultimate Swordswoman.

“Hinata,” She says before Hajime could even greet her, “I apologize for the intrusion, but I am struggling with the problems you have given out and I cannot afford to be expelled from this school. Kazuichi had mentioned he went to you for extra help during lunch, I was hoping that I could do the same.”

Hajime almost wanted to laugh at the formal tone, but he also felt a bit honored that they all trusted him enough to come to him for help.

“Of course, do you have the problems with you? That way I could try and explain them in another way.”

She nods and takes the chair in the desk in front of him, “Thank you, Hinata.”

“Sure Pekoyama, hopefully I can be of some help.”

Peko glances at his face after taking out her folder, “What happened to your cheek?”

“Wha-” Hajime reaches up to his face before remembering the guards from the day before.

He laughs awkwardly, “Oh it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

She unconsciously reaches for her bamboo sword, “Did someone do that to you?”

“No no!” He flails his arms, “Nothing like that, I just tripped after leaving the main building yesterday. It’s okay, really.”

She stares at him for a second longer before releasing her grip on the sword, “Kamukura isn’t going to be happy.”

Hajime deflates, “Yeah, I know.”

___________________________

Pekoyama was right, Izuru wasn’t happy about it.

“You tripped?” He asks with a flat tone of disbelief.

Hajime sighs as he packs up his belongings after tutoring, “Yes Izuru, I am quite clumsy as you can see.”

“Why are you lying to me?”

Hajime glares back, “I’m not.”

He left after that, and Izuru was left in the classroom.

___________________________

It was Wednesday when Soda appeared in his classroom again.

“Hey Hinata!” He exclaims when he walks in, “You able to help me again?”

Hajime wanted to roll his eyes, but Soda was just a guy that meant well, “Sure, dude. More math?”

He nods his head, “Mhm, with these derivatives I don’t quite understand how we got…”

So Hajime walks him through it and promises to help him more after the tutor session that afternoon.

___________________________

“Is that the new pokemon game, Nanami?” Hajime asks as he walks up behind her at the gates.

She jumps slightly, not hearing him approach her, “Mhm! I got both Sword and Shield so I can complete my pokedex, but I wanted to start with shield.”

He gives her a soft smile, her eyes lit up, “How is it? I’m thinking of asking Izuru for one of them for Christmas, but I haven’t decided on which one. Plus I have to save up to get a Nintendo Switch first.”

She looks up at him, “You can play mine if you want! Christmas isn’t for months, they’ll be other games to play by then.”

Hajime laughed, “That’s okay, Nanami. I don’t want to force you into letting me play your game or anything.”

Nanami shakes her head as they walk, “It’s no trouble, really! Besides Ms. Yukizome said that games are much better when played with others, and she’s right. I know you already take most of your time after school to tutor us, but we can play during lunch if you want! I can bring my switch over to your classroom.”

She looked so excited, and Hajime just couldn’t find the will power to say no to her.

“Sure Nanami, sounds fun.”

___________________________

He keeps his word to Soda and helps him more with math after the official tutoring session has ended, which means that all the other students had gone back to their dorms by the time Hajime left.

Which incidentally leaves him alone with the guards. 

It was only a week since he’s started going to the main building regularly, but the guards of course still weren’t happy about it.

He expected the harsh words, but not the kick to the back of his knees, making him fall to the ground.

The guards began to kick him, and there was nothing he could do. If he were to try and fight back, like he did the year prior, it would just result in a much worse situation.

Hajime knew that he didn’t deserve to walk the same halls as the Ultimates, he knew that he was just some lowly hopeless kid with nothing going for him.

The kicks stopped as soon as they started. 

“Oi, it’s that white haired kid again, should we let the kid go?” One of the guards says.

“Yeah, get away from ‘im. We didn’t do anything wrong but we don’t need the kid ratting.”

Once the guards backed away and stood at their posts, Hajime pushed himself up slowly as he did not want to be seen as pathetic by some Ultimate. 

Not that he wasn’t already seen as the pathetic reserve kid.

But the last thing he was expecting was that asshole Komaeda’s pale hand in front of his face offering his help.

Hajime doesn’t accept it and instead stubbornly makes his way to his feet, “What do you want?”

“Well that’s no way to greet your savior now is it, Hajime?” Komaeda says with a smile.

“Don’t call me Hajime,” He says as he picks his bag off the ground, “And you aren’t my savior.”

Komaeda let out a chuckle, “Next time I’ll just let you keep getting beat then, I guess. However, Kamukura would have killed me if I had just watched.”

Hajime rolls his eyes, “Whatever, you’ve done your ‘good deed’ or whatever, now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get home.”

“Why don’t I walk you?” Komaeda smiles, “Since you seem to be in danger when alone.”

“Why do you even care? I thought I was just that reserve course scum.” He says as he begins to walk towards the edge of campus.

“Well I still think you are, don’t get me wrong,” He starts, “But the others seem to think quite highly of you. So I admit, you’ve peaked my interest.”

Hajime starts to walk faster, “Well it doesn’t matter. I’m willing to bet you don’t have your parent’s permission to leave campus.”

Komaeda shrugs, “Don’t need permission if you don’t have any parents.”

“...Oh.” Well now he feels like an asshole.

They don’t really speak for the rest of the walk, but after what Komaeda said about his parents, Hajime felt it necessary not to just send the jerk away since it was starting to get dark.

“Why don’t you stay for dinner then? I’m sure I’ll find some shit to make, I’m no ultimate chef though. I can’t guarantee it’ll be good.” Hajime reluctantly offers.

Komaeda puts on a large smile, “Of course, I don’t expect much from a reserve like you. But I’m glad to know the brother of the Ultimate Hope at least has some basic manors.”

Oh, Hajime wanted to punch him so badly.

___________________________

They eat dinner in silence, and Hajime is glad because he ends up multitasking like he normally does in order to finish his homework.

Komaeda seems to copy him and takes out the practice problems that Hajime had assigned earlier and then continued to work in a comfortable silence.

About an hour in, Komaeda speaks up, “Hajime, what’s that rule again that you taught us for special right triangles?”

Hajime looks up from his laptop, a pen in his mouth, “Wha?”

Komaeda suppresses a laugh at the scene, he was still new to the whole homework and studying thing but Hajime seemed to have it down pretty well. His hair was laying at several different angles due to him getting frustrated and messing with it. There was a red spot on his cheek from his hand, and the pen promptly fell out when he talked.

“The rule for special right triangles about the angles? I think I lost my notes for it.” He says suppressing his smile. 

Hajime shakes his head, walking away from the essay due at the end of the week. He leaned over Komaeda to see what problem he was working on and began to explain it, pointing out the specific angles on the paper. 

Komaeda turned his head once Hajime had finished his help and he noticed just how close the two were.

Hajime had noticed his eyes weren’t on the paper anymore and accidentally met his gaze when he turned his head.

He found himself staring at Komaeda’s lips, but quickly turns his head and clears his throat as he walks back to his laptop to hide his growing blush at what he just considered doing. He watched as Komaeda shook his head and hid behind his hair as he continued on his problems.

They continued without making eye contact until Hajime had finished his first draft of his essay and began to put his school stuff away. 

Hajime glanced at the clock, it was after ten. He’d be an ass to force Komaeda to leave now, sure the guy was tall, but he was scrawny and unthreatening. Hajime didn’t want to be responsible for any harm, even if the guy was an ass.

“You can stay here tonight.” Hajime breaks the silence and Komaeda looks up confused, “It's late, you probably shouldn’t be on the streets alone this late. I know you have Ultimate luck, or whatever, but I wouldn’t risk it.”

He stands up for the first time in ages and stretches his muscles.

Komaeda joins him as he bites his lip, “Sure, that’d be great Hajime.”

He grumbles, “I told you to call me Hinata.”

“Whatever you say, Hajime,” And he takes a step towards him, “Y’know I don’t know why everyone speaks so highly of you. I’ve spent hours here, and you’re just so utterly average. It’s quite disappointing. But still, you pull people in. Maybe that’s just a side effect from being around Kamukura for such a long period of time.”

Hajime snaps as Komaeda keeps walking towards him and he feels himself press into the wall, “Would you just shut the fuck up already? I have been nothing but hospitable but I should have known you were just someone else who would compare me to Izuru. I get it, I’m trash, I’m just some reserve kid who has nothing to look forward to in life. But for some dumbass reason Izuru put his neck on the line to get me into this school, and your class put all their faith into me. And yet according to society, I’m destined for failure!”

“But that’s what I don’t get! Everyone gravitates to you, even me.” He quickly puts his hand on the wall next to Hajime’s head, “I don’t understand.”

“Oh what a surprise, that small fucked up brain of yours can’t-” Hajime freezes when Komaeda pushes his body against his and firmly pressed their lips together.

Komaeda pulls away just as quickly but Hajime entangles a hand in his hair and pulls him back down. 

_ Well if that’s the game you wanna play. _

Komaeda grins against the other’s mouth before gently pressing his thigh into Hajime’s groin, causing him to moan and Komaeda slips his tongue into his mouth.

They stay that way for a while until they both decide it would be better to move to Hajime’s room, abandoning their clothes before falling into the bed.

___________________________

Nagito wakes up a few hours later to Hajime sleeping on his chest. He lifts a shaky hand to his hair, what was he thinking. Sleeping with some random reserve kid? Kamukura’s brother at that? He’s dead if Kamukura ever finds out, despite only knowing about his brother for a short period of time, the class has seen his protectiveness over Hajime.

He didn’t even want to think about what Kamukura would do to him for having meaningless angry sex with his brother.

Nagito shook his head.

He needed to get back to campus to shower and change his clothes before class began, but Hajime had his arm draped over his stomach and his head was resting peacefully on his shoulder.

He’s just some reserve kid, who cares. There weren’t any feelings involved.

Just sex.

That’s all it is. 

He carefully lifts Hajime’s arm and makes his way out of bed, but Hajime doesn’t even move. His breaths just keep peacefully going in and out.

Komaeda quietly makes his way around the room to find his pile of clothes before slipping on his boxers and school uniform. 

He takes one last look at Hajime before leaving, which is when he notices the numerous bruises lining his back. They were most likely from when the guards attacked him, but some looked more faded than they should have.

Did he put up with that treatment every day?

Komaeda bit his lip before leaving his apartment. He doesn’t give a damn about what happens to Hajime. He was just some reserve kid who he used for a good fuck.

Nothing else to it.

He ran his fingers through his hair in the cool night trying to tame it before making his way back to school.


	2. You Like Me In Spite of Me, I feel These Feelings Quietly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> I honestly wasn't expecting this many people to actually like my story!  
> Thank you all for your comments I really appreciated them : )
> 
> Here's chapter 2!

The first thing Hajime realized when he woke up was that he was naked, the second was that he was alone.

Komaeda had spent the night with him, but must have left shortly after Hajime fell asleep. Which meant that they couldn’t talk about it and that there's the chance that the entire class of Ultimates knows about it. 

Including Izuru.

Hajime sits up and rubs his eyes, he doesn’t have time to think about that. If everyone does know, then it would be a lot more suspicious if he doesn’t show up to school.

He reaches for his phone to turn the alarm off before forcing himself up, ignoring the feeling of being very sore.

___________________________

Nanami keeps her word and meets Hajime in his classroom that morning for lunch.

The two spend most of the time together in silence as Hajime plays through the beginning of the game. It isn’t awkward though. 

And if he was being quite honest, it was a nice distraction from everything that happened in the last 24 hours. 

She didn’t mention anything about him or Komaeda, so he’s assuming that he hasn’t said anything about what they did.

He wasn’t sure why he would expect anything else, though, he was just some talentless kid after all.

Nanami’s voice breaks him out of his thoughts, “Oh! It’s time for you to pick your starter Hajime, which one are you gonna choose?” 

“Let’s see, Grookey, Sobble, and Scorbunny.” He stares at the pokemon in front of him, “I swear these choices get harder with every game they release.”

Nanami giggles, “I know, like look at their faces, how can you say no to any of them?”

“Sobble already looks so sad, and I mean that cutscene of all of them didn’t help either.” Hajime says as he continues to stare at the little creatures.

“If it makes you feel better, I chose Sobble, so I can always breed him and trade with you later.” She says, “But only if you give me whatever you chose.”

He gives her a smile, “I would, but I don’t have a Switch, Nanami. So I can’t-”

“That’s okay!” She says, “Komaeda won one in a give away when it came out, I’m sure I could get him to let you borrow it for a few minutes once you finish. And then we could battle too!”

While Hajime is pretty sure that Komaeda would never let him borrow his switch, especially after last night, it’s worth a shot if Nanami is excited about it.

He glances at the clock, he’s got five more minutes until he has to say goodbye to Nanami.

“Sounds like a plan, but first I have to break one of these pokemon’s hearts.” Nanami laughs as he stares back at the screen, “Sorry Grookey, but Scorbunny has won my heart.”

He and Nanami break into laughter as he makes his final choice.

She leaves a few moments later, leaving Hajime alone to think.

And how despite the hateful words that were thrown between him and Komaeda, having company in his house again was pretty nice. 

But the bell rings, and the teacher walks in, and Hajime is forced to come to terms with the reality that he’s going to be alone in his life. 

No one ever sticks around, not even his own father. It’s only a matter of time until Izuru moves on to do great things without him, and he lets down the rest of the Ultimates.

He’s nothing, after all.

___________________________

Hajime finds it easy to lose himself in his school work throughout the rest of the day, and therefore doesn’t even notice that it’s already time for him to meet up with Chiaki.

“Hinata.” She greets with her normal smile. 

Despite everything going on in his head, he can’t help but smile back, “Hey, Nanami. How’d the rest of your day go?”

They start walking, “It’s been pretty interesting, everyone’s been practicing their math so Ms. Yukizome decided to hold a competition.”

“A competition?”

“Mhm.” She nods her head, “She would call two of us up to the board and see who could solve the equation the fastest.”

Hajime let out a laugh, “God, I wish that’s how my class studied for tests.”

She looks at him determined, “You should tell them about it! It was very helpful.”

“Maybe.” He says, “So who won?”

She rolls her eyes, “Well Kamukura was forced to participate so he did win. But Soda was second!”

Hajime let out a smile, “Really? He’s been working really hard, that’s great.”

Chiaki looks over at Hajime as they reach the entrance of the classroom, “Thank you again for helping us, really. We would have been doomed if not for you!”

Hajime puts his hands up defensively, “Oh I’m not doing that much. You probably would have been able to manage without me.”

She shakes her head, “Give yourself some credit, Hajime.”

His eyes widen and she puts her head down and blushes slightly, “I’m sorry, Hinata.”

He places a hand on her shoulder, “No worries, I think we’re pretty good friends, aren’t we? We did bond over the hard choice of choosing a Pokemon starter, right? Feel free to call me Hajime if you want.”

She looks up, “Then you have to call me Chiaki.”

“Deal.” He says with a smile.

She goes to sit down at her desk and Hajime makes his way to the front of the room and opens his laptop, and as he looks up he sees Komaeda staring directly at him.

Chiaki didn’t mention anything about his nightly affair when they were at lunch, so he’s assuming Komaeda didn’t tell anyone about it.

But then again, he was just some reserve course student. What’s there to even brag about?

Hajime clears his throat and tears his gaze away, “So I heard that you guys had a competition today?”

“It was boring.”

“I’m going to ignore you, Izuru. But I heard that Soda got second place, and I would just like to offer my congratulations.” Hajime smiles as he silently claps his hands dramatically.

They all laugh and pat Soda on the back.

Nagito watches everything go on.

Hajime was just some reserve kid, there was absolutely nothing special about him.

He wasn’t worth his time.

___________________________

Hajime quickly realized that his days of spending his lunch in peace and quiet were over, as another Ultimate made their way into his classroom.

The guy just walks up to Hajime’s desk, trying to make it seem as though he didn’t care and his attention was elsewhere.

Hajime raises an eyebrow, “Kuzuryuu, right?”

Fuyuhiko nodded and took a seat next to Hajime, “I heard you’ve been offering extra help.”

Hajime rubs the back of his neck, “Well, it’s more of people just kind of showing up.”

“Whatever, what do you want in return?”

He raises an eyebrow, “In return?”

Fuyuhiko nods, “Yeah, no one does anything for free, so come on, name your price.”

“Really, there’s no price. You guys are ultimates, I’m just helping the best I can.”

Squinting, Fuyuhiko laughs at him, “Man, you sure are weird. But I am a man of my word, so the offer stands if you ever need anything.”

“Uh, sure. Thanks, Kuzuryuu.” Hajime pauses, “Hey, your sister used to be in the reserve course, right?”

His eyes harden, “What about her?”

Hajime raises his hands in defense, “Nothing bad, or anything. We used to eat lunch together during our first year, called herself the Ultimate Little Sister or something. She disappeared at the end of the school year, though.”

Fuyuhiko stares at him, trying to decide if he means well or not, “Yeah, she had some issues with another student and my folks felt it was best for her to leave the school.”

“Oh, that sucks, I’m sorry,” He says lamely, “I doubt she remembers me, but if you have a chance could you tell her hello from me the next time you see her? If not it’s totally fine.”

He lets out a breath, “Sure man, it’s nice to know she had at least one friend at this school.”

“Thanks. Um, was there any work you needed help with?”

Fuyuhiko shakes his head, “No, just checking up for someone else, I wanted to make sure you didn’t plan on screwing any of us over.”

Hajime raises an eyebrow, so Fuyuhiko continues, “I won’t lie to you, a few of us are a bit skeptical, I mean until this whole thing started none of us even knew Kamakura had a brother. It all seems a bit too convenient.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Hajime sighs and looks out the window, “I can promise you that I have absolutely nothing to gain by screwing your class over. And besides, not even I am dumb enough to go up against an entire class of Ultimates.”

“And the Kamakura thing?” He questions.

Hajime shrugs, “I mean, I’m not normally allowed on the main campus so I don’t see him too much. Plus as I mentioned, we have different last names, and we don’t see each other over breaks or anything either.”

“I guess that makes sense. You seem like a good guy, Hinata.” Fuyuhiko says as he turns to walk away, “Just know that if you come for my class, there’ll be hell to pay.”

Hinata gulped as he stared at Fuyuhiko’s retreating body.

___________________________

Chiaki shows up during his next lunch on Monday to play more Pokemon.

“Y’know this game is a lot easier with the way it points out which moves are super effective, or not. I’m not sure how I feel about it.”

Hajime lets out a nervous laugh, “It’s idiot proof which I am very glad for, because I can easily memorize english vocab words, but not different pokemon types.”

Chiaki lets out a laugh, “Hajime! You’d learn if you needed too, plus you’re not doing too bad, but your team is a little wonky.”

He pouts, “Wooloo is a great addition to my team, plus it’s a sheep, you can never go wrong with a sheep.”

Chiaki points to the screen as Wooloo faints from an attack, “I don’t know if the sheep was the right answer in this battle, Hajime.”

Hajime lets his head hit his desk, and Chiaki giggles above him.

___________________________

By the end of the week Hajime had made a lot of progress in Sword, and he decided to take a break from math and move into more of a science approach in tutoring for the Ultimates.

He starts with Biology, as it doesn’t require too much math but is also a good starting point to build up from.

However, he quickly realizes that these concepts are going to require a bit more explanation than he had originally planned, and their hour long sessions turned into easily two hours a day.

Leaving Hajime even less time to his own assignments.

But the class was putting in a lot of work, and they were making pretty good progress, so Hajime guessed it was worth it at the end of the day.

Izuru, however, did like to point out his growing eyebags when he walked into their classroom each day.

By Wednesday, he got so caught up in the motions that he doesn’t even realize that the guards haven’t so much as shouted at him since Komaeda caught them.

Hajime stops just outside of the gates and turns around, the guards wouldn’t just let him go unless there was an Ultimate nearby, but Komaeda is the only one who knew.

But they hate each other, so why would he help him?

Sure enough Hajime caught a glimpse of Komaeda’s cloud hair by the main building.

He cocked his head to the side and caught the other’s attention.

Komaeda bit his lip and looked around, debating if he should just turn around and go inside. But Hajime had already seen him so he decided to walk to meet with him.

“Komaeda-”

“Look Hajime I don’t care what happens to you, but this is a school of Hope and those guards are not being very hopeful by attacking you, now are they?” He cuts off.

Hajime raised an eyebrow as he started walking towards the end of the campus, “But I’m not allowed in the main building, they’re just doing their job of keeping you guys safe.”

Komaeda looks at him once over, “Full offense, Hajime but you aren’t very threatening.”

His shoulders deflate, “Yeah, yeah. I know.”

They walk in silence until Hajime lets out a quiet, “Thank you.”

Nagito squints at him, “For what? I said I didn’t do it for you.”

He lets out a breath, “Still since I haven’t had any bruises, Izuru got off my back a bit so I was allowed to keep my job which is pretty helpful.”

“Job?” Komaeda questions, “Where do you find time for that?”

Hajime laughed, “Gotta pay rent somehow, right? I work weekends.”

Komaeda puts his attention back on the road in front of them, “So that’s why your house was empty that night.”

“I mean you would know, you did leave in the middle of the night.” He retorts back.

Komaeda raises an eyebrow, “What was I supposed to stay? It was just sex, Hajime.”

“Well,” He starts, “It would have been nice to talk about it a bit. Just enough to know that you weren’t about to tell the whole school.”

Komaeda bit his lip, that was a shit move, he knew he was trash but that’s just cruel.

“Why would I tell people I slept with someone like you?”

Hajime rolled his eyes, of course, he was expecting that.

As they approach his apartment, Hajime takes out his key, “Are you coming in? You walked all this way, I’m assuming you're expecting a meal in return.”

Komaeda’s eyes harden, “I don’t know, Hajime. Is your girlfriend going to be okay with that?”

Hajime tilts his head, “Girlfriend?”

“Nanami? The short pink haired girl who you spend your precious lunch time flirting with?” He explains.

Hajime turns bright red, “We weren’t flirting and she isn’t my girlfriend, Komaeda. How do you even know that I see her during lunch?”

He puts up his hands and ignores his question, “I mean it’s none of my business, I just don’t think she’ll be happy to find out we’ve been fucking.”

“Fucking? As in more than once? Is that what you’re expecting if I invite you in?”

Komaeda shrugs, “Depends, is that an invitation?”

Hajime sighs and puts his attention to opening the door, “It’s whatever you want it to be, but homework first. I can’t slack or I’ll get kicked out.”

Komaeda cackles, “I can work with that.”

___________________________

Nagito wakes up that night around the same time and looks down at Hajime who was fast asleep on his chest.

He lets out a sigh as he looks out the window. Why did he let himself do this again? And with some random reserve course student?

But was he really that random?

He looks back at Hajime who was letting out peaceful breaths. His hair sticking up in several different directions. 

Nagito lets his hand run over Hajime’s back and lets out a smile when he doesn’t see any bruises anymore. He brings his hand back up to his head and starts playing with his random tufts of hair.

There’s nothing romantic about what they did, it’s purely physical, no feelings involved.

But that doesn’t mean that Nagito can’t enjoy it for a little while longer.

___________________________

Komaeda is gone again when he wakes up, but Hajime was kind of expecting it.

Besides it’s not like they’re together or anything.

However, Hajime quickly grew thankful that Komaeda hadn’t stayed. Because when he walked out into his kitchen to brew a cup of coffee, he found his father taking off his shoes by their door.

Hajime freezes, still in his boxers, and quickly turns around back to his room.

“Ah, Hajime. I know you saw me, come out and greet me like a man.” His father calls.

Hajime hears his fathers footsteps approaching and he quickly grabs the nearest T-Shirt from his laundry and throws it on to cover any hickeys that Komaeda left the night before on his chest.

His door opens not a moment later, “What’s with the cold welcome?”

Hajime looks his father in the eye, “I just wasn’t expecting you home after not hearing from you in months.”

His father shrugs and steps further into his room and Hajime could smell the booze on him, “I had some business to take care of. But I’m here now, so come give your father a more respectful greeting.”

Hajime just hides his shaking hands behind his back and ignores his father’s open arms, “I’m going to be late for school.”

His father rolls his eyes, “You’re still going to that elite school? I figured you would have given up by now. Are you still trying to live in Izuru’s shadow? Well wake up Hajime, you’re never going to amount to anything. I thought we already talked about you quitting school and getting a full time job. You’re an adult, it’s about time you pull your weight around here.”

“I’m sixteen, I’m a child, and I’m the one who pays the rent.” Hajime says, his eyes hard and fists clenched, “Your only job is to disappear for weeks or months and leave me to do everything by myself.”

“Listen here you ungrateful piece of shit,” He grabs Hajime’s wrist when he tries to back away, “Without me you’d be living with your bitch of a mother. You should be thankful that I was willing to take custody over some worthless child!”

The grip on his wrist only tightens as his father gets close to his face.

“I expect to be respected in my own house.”

He lets go of Hajime’s wrist and slams the door before leaving his room.

Hajime feels himself begin to cry and can’t help the tears running down his face. Things were going so well, he finally had a friend to hang out with, and he was getting good grades. Why did his father have to come back?

He grit his teeth, he was stupid to belive that he was allowed to have nice things.

Without thinking he pulled his arm back and punched the wall before recoiling in pain.

With his hurt hand, he forces himself to wipe his tears before making his way to the closet to grab his uniform.

By the time he would make it to school, he would have missed his first class. But he had to show up, he made a promise to help the Ultimates, he couldn’t let them down.

Plus being at school meant that he didn’t have to see his father.

He threw on his jacket and ran out the door.

___________________________

However, Hajime quickly realised that going to school wasn’t the best idea either. Despite not having a lot of muscle on him, Hajime put a lot of force into that punch and his hand was slightly swollen and starting to bruise. 

Sure he knew it wasn’t broken or anything, but it was getting pretty hard to take notes so he asked the teacher to be excused to the nurse’s office.

The nurse’s office is on the main campus, so Hajime’s teacher had to escort him to the main gates, and the guards rolled their eyes once they saw who it was.

“You again, kid?” The guard says, “What now?”

The teacher cleared their throat, “His hand appears to be quite swollen and he asked if the nurse could take a look at it for him.”

The guard sighed, but they knew they couldn’t deny an injured kid, “Alright, go on in.”

Hajime nodded, “Thank you, sir.”

He made his way to the main doors, and as he opened them he was met with the cloud of white hair he woke up without.

“Hajime?” Komaeda asks, clearly confused, “Isn’t it a little early for tutoring?”

Hajime sighed and walked in, “I’m just here for the nurse.”

Komaeda follows him, “Aw did I really do such a great job last night that you need pain meds? Wow I-”

“Oh, fuck off Komaeda, I’m not in the mood.” Hajime says as he walks into the nurses office, Komaeda entering as well.

“Oh, um, h-hello! The n-nurse j-j-just went on break. B-but I can help if you w-w-want.” Mikan says when she sees the two of them.

Hajime ignores Nagito and nods at Mikan, “That’d be great Tsumiki, I was just wondering if I could have an ice pack for my hand, I think I may have bruised it.”

Nagito raises an eyebrow, and Mikan nods at him, “Of c-course! Take a seat over here, and roll u-up your s-sleeve so I can get a bet-better look.”

Hajime takes his uniform jacket off, setting it on the examination table before unbutting and rolling up his sleeve.

“What happened to your wrist?” Nagito questioned, his eyes hard.

Hajime froze, Nagito was with him last night, so that limits the amount of excuses he could use, “I must have hit it on the door this morning, or something. I honestly don’t remember.”

Nagito grabs his wrist, “Hajime, this is the shape of a hand. That doesn’t just ‘happen’.”

Hajime pulls his hand out of Nagito’s grasp, “It’s fine, Komaeda.”

Tsumiki just watches the two interact before examining Hajime’s hand and deciding that it wasn’t broken, but he probably shouldn’t use it to take notes for the rest of the day, just to make sure that he doesn’t strain or hurt it more.

Hajime didn’t want to go home though, “Could I stay here then? My father isn’t expecting me home for a few hours.”

Nagito’s head whips over to Hajime, and he ignores him, “Your father?”

Hajime keeps his eyes on Tsumiki, “He got home from his business trip this morning so I’m sure he’s enjoying the peace and quiet.”

“U-um I have to leave for a l-little while to go to class, K-komaeda t-t-too.” She stutters, “I can’t l-leave you here un-unattended.”

Nagito gives Hajime a smirk, “You know this is normally when Ms. Yukizome lets us study for our exams, right? Why doesn’t Hajime come with us to help out? He doesn’t have to use his hand or anything and he doesn’t have to go home.”

Hajime freezes, “I can’t just go to class with you guys.”

“I-I’m sure it won't be a p-p-problem, it’d b-be a big help actually.”

Hajime knows his fate is sealed when Komaeda gives him a bright smile and hands him his jacket.

Mikan hands him an ice pack, and tells him to keep it on both his wrist and his hand to prevent bruising, ultimately leaving both injuries exposed. 

“Really Komaeda?” Hajime glares once Mikan leaves the room.

Nagito shrugs, “I don’t know what you mean Hajime, I’m just trying to help both sides.”

“Both sides? You just want to watch me get interrogated by Izuru.”

“It’s not an ideal situation,” Nagito starts, “But I know that your wrist was fine as of last night.”

Hajime rolls his eyes, “Are you sure you didn’t put it there?”

He lets out a hollow laugh, “Jeez, I think I would remember doing something kinky that involved bruising your wrist, Hajime.”

“I already told you that I hit it on something accidentally.”

Nagito side eyes him, “And your father coming home has absolutely nothing to do with it?”

Hajime grits his teeth, “No, like I told Tsumiki he’s tired. I’d rather not disturb his rest.”

“Okay then, let’s say you ‘accidentally’ bumped your wrist on something, right?” Nagito lets out a breath before turning to him, “How would someone hurt your hand like that? Your knuckles seem to be bruising, almost as if you punched something.”

Hajime rolled his eyes, “Punch something? Listen to yourself Komaeda, you really think a kid like me would get in a fight?”

He shrugs, “I’m just saying. I’d love to be proved wrong, but I don’t think I’m the one you have to worry about right now.”

Nagito glances up to the classroom label before gesturing for Hajime to walk in.

Hajime just bites his tongue, it wasn’t too late to turn around. He could just go back to class without Tsumiki noticing, but he wouldn’t put it past Komaeda to rat him out.

But Tsumiki was the least of his problems, because as he walked through the door he could feel Izuru’s gaze burning into him.

“Hajime?” Chiaki says from her seat, “Aren’t you supposed to be in class?”

Nagito gives her a grin, “I ran into him at the nurses office, he hurt his hand a bit and Mikan suggested that he refrains from going back to class so as to not injure it more. And I thought he could come to our class to help us with our study period.”

“You hurt your hand? Is everything okay, Hajime?” Chiaki asked, her eyes full of concern.

He gives her a small smile, “Yeah, I must have hit it on something accidentally, it’s just bruised. No need to worry, Chiaki.”

Trying to ignore Izuru’s gaze, Hajime looks around the classroom only to find Kuzuryuu standing in front of him.

“Your wrist.” He nods his head towards his arm, “Who did it?”

“No one?” Hajime tries.

Kuzuryuu rolls his eyes, “Try again, dumbass. That’s a bruise in the shape of a hand, you really think someone like me wouldn’t recognize it?”

Hajime backs up, only to bump into Nagito, “Look I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine, really. I didn’t mean to interrupt your study time, I can just-”

“Oh, who’s this?” A woman asked and Hajime quickly turned around.

Chiaki speaks up from her seat, “That’s Hajime Hinata, the one who’s been helping us out after school.”

She lets out a huge smile, “Oh! It’s great to finally meet you, Hinata. My class has told me a lot about you, all good things don’t worry. I was wondering when I would get to meet you.”

She stuck out her hand, “I’m Ms. Yukizome, the main teacher for this class.”

Hajime took the ice pack off his hand and shook hers, “Nice to meet you.”

Ms. Yukizome quickly noticed his hand, but decided against saying anything.

“Hajime was going to help us study this period if that’s okay with you, Ms. Yukizome.” Nagito says from Hajime’s side.

She clasps her hands together, “Of course, that sounds like a wonderful plan, as long as he isn’t missing any of his own classes.”

Nagito gives Hajime a smile, who just glares back, “Nope, Mikan already excused him.”

She’s about to respond when Izuru shows up behind Hajime and says, “Can I speak to him outside before you guys start?”

She nods and Hajime braces himself for an interrogation.

“Any reason why you’re lying to everyone?” Izuru asks and Hajime opens his mouth to answer, “Look Hajime, don’t even start. You think I wouldn’t notice the handprint? But you seem to have told me that our father hasn’t been home in months. Unless someone here is hurting you?”

Hajime just looks away, Izuru wouldn’t accept his lies anyways. 

“So what’s your final answer, then?” Izuru questions, his eyes hard, “When did he get home?”

“This morning.”

“Damnit Hajime! He hasn’t even been home twelve hours and he’s already laid a hand on you. And you’re willing to lie for him?” Izuru demands.

“Well what other choice do I have, Izuru?” Hajime spits back, “Admit that he did this to my wrist and open up a whole ass investigation? And then what, huh? Have custody of me places with mom? She’s made it pretty clear that she doesn’t want me.”

“Those aren’t your only options, but is that really worse than living with that asshole?”

Hajime rolls his eyes, “He’ll be gone in a few days anyway.”

“How is that any better?” Izuru asks, “Why don’t you speak to Hope’s Peak, ask if you could move into the dorms.”

Hajime lets out a hollow laugh, “The dorms? As in the Ultimate dorms? In case you forgot, I’m just some lowly reserve student.”

Izuru just glares.

“Drop it, I’ll handle it, I have before.” Hajime says as he leaves Izuru in the hallway.

Izuru goes back to his room, not showing up to class for the rest of the day.

___________________________

By the time Friday comes along it begins to storm pretty bad and all of the streets begin to flood. 

He goes to leave when he notices Komaeda standing by the gates with an umbrella.

“Um you know there's no tutoring today, right?” Hajime asks getting soaked by the rain, “And usually Chiaki is the one who waits here.”

Komaeda’s smile tightens, “Well I’m here to escort you to the main building. It’s not safe to walk to your shift.”

Hajime rolls his eyes, “I’ll be fine. I need the money, Komaeda. And besides, why does it matter to you what I do?”

He stares at him with a deadpan stare, “Hajime you can’t even see the lines on the street meaning it is very possible that you could get hit by a car. And then Kamukura is going to be unbearable. Is that what you want?”

“Well of course not, I’m not an asshole. He’s still my brother. But,” He pauses, “I can’t just not show up to work, I’ll get fired.”

“So?”

“Komaeda I’ve already told you I need this job to pay my rent. I’d rather not be homeless.”

“It won’t matter if you’re homeless if you’re already dead.” Komaeda says with a cheeky smile.

Hajime takes out his phone with a sigh to call his work to tell them he wouldn’t be coming in, when all of the street lights around them suddenly go out.

“Guess I’m just going straight to my apartment then.” He starts to walk away when Komaeda pulls him back.

“Once again, are you trying to get yourself killed?” He asks.

“What else do you want me to do? Sleep in the reserve building? It’s going to rain all night!” He says exasperated.

“Stay in the main building.”

“Komaeda, you’ve seen the treatment I’ve gotten just by being there for an hour. They’re more of a threat than the cars.” He says.

Komaeda begins to drag him before softly mumbling, “They won’t hurt you when you’re with me.”

Luckily for him, the rain drowned out the sound.

___________________________

Hajime freezes when he enters the building with Komaeda. He’s soaked, he can’t just walk through a prestigious building and drip water everywhere.

Komaeda rolls his eyes, “Really that’s what you’re worried about?” 

“I can’t just make a mess of the building, Komaeda.” 

“It’ll be fine, look no one’s here.” Komaeda gestures to the empty hallway around him and walks forward.

Hajime reluctantly starts to follow.

“Which one is Izuru’s?” Hajime asks when they reach the dorms. 

Komaeda shrugs, “Doesn’t matter, he’s not here. No one is.”

Hajime freezes, “Huh?”

“Do you not check the weather? There's a literal hurricane, and since the teachers couldn’t stay here they sent all the students home too.” Komaeda pulls out his E-Handbook, “I’ve got nowhere to go so they let me stay.”

He scans his handbook and opens the door. 

Hajime follows him in, “You can take a shower if you want, the school has a generator for this building so the water should still be warm.”

“Why?” Hajime questions.

He raises an eyebrow, “So you don’t catch a cold?”

Hajime rolls his eyes, “No, dumbass. Why am I here? I could have just taken shelter with any of the other reserved kids who didn’t leave.”

Nagito reaches into his drawer to pull out some spare clothes, and turns to face Hajime, “Look, whether you want to admit it or not, my entire class is counting on you to not fail these classes. Even me, though I will never say it again. Hope’s Peak is my home, and I just-” He pauses, “I don’t want to leave. I already got suspended for six weeks last year and I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

Hajime didn’t know what to say so he just took the clothes from Komaeda, and bit his lip. Komaeda shook his head and stepped closer to Hajime.

“You’re worse than I am, you know that? You somehow have less regard for your own personal safety than me! While I have no idea how the hell that is possible, someone has to make sure you don’t die. Hajime. You’re important to a lot of people.” Komaeda finishes.

Komaeda gestures to the bathroom, “Now go take a shower, please?”

Hajime nodded his head, avoiding eye contact as he shut the door behind him.

___________________________

Hajime returns about ten minutes later, dressed in Komaeda’s clothes and a towel over his shoulders.

Komaeda is at the desk, reading some book Hajime couldn’t see.

He clears his throat, and Komaeda looks up, “Thank you for the um…”

Komaeda gives him a tight smile, “Don’t worry about it.”

He hangs his towel on the rac in the bathroom before reluctantly saying, “Hey um, not to be rude or anything but if you just brought me here for sex… I’m not really in the mood tonight.”

Looking up from his book, Komaeda sighs, “I know that I am literal human garbage, but I don’t think I’m that much of a dick to invite you in during a hurricane just so I could get sex out of it.”

Hajime averts his gaze down to his backpack, where he pulls out his notes, which luckily had stayed dry.

“Don’t talk about yourself like that.” He mumbles.

“Like what? I’m just saying the truth.”

Hajime sets himself up on the floor, his laptop on his legs, “You’re still an Ultimate, Ko.”

Hajime freezes, “U-um. It just kind of slipped out. I’m sorry.”

Nagito lets out a hearty laugh, “Hajime you’ve seen my dick, I think it’s okay if you don’t call me Komaeda all of the time.”

He just nods and turns his attention back to his homework.

“And to what you said, I’m barely an Ultimate, I just won the lottery, got some extreme luck. It’s kind of a boring talent if you ask me.” He shrugs.

Hajime bites his pen, “You could not have a talent at all and be a reserve course student like me.”

Komaeda looked up from his book to see Hajime not paying attention to him anymore, instead fully engrossed in whatever he was working on. It was Friday, and yet he was still doing homework even though he was supposed to be on shift until eleven. When did he normally find the time to work on his assignments?

Hajime’s phone started to ring, so Komaeda turned his attention back to his book to avoid getting caught staring.

“Hey, Izuru.” Hajime replied, his attention still on his laptop.

There was a pause before he answered, “No I’m not home, don’t worry. I was going to, but I ran into Komaeda before I could leave.”

He hesitated before his response, “No, he didn’t do anything like that. He just convinced me I was being a dumbass for trying to walk home in a hurricane. He’s lending me his floor for the night.”

“Yeah, I’ll let him know.” A pause, “No I am not doing homework.”

Nagito turns his head with a confused look and Hajime holds up a finger to his lips.

“That’s Komaeda’s keyboard, not mine.” A pause, “How do you know he doesn’t have a computer?”

Hajime rolls his eyes, “Okay fine, I have an essay due tonight that I’m trying to revise.”

“Tell mom I say hi, and that I’m not wasting my tuition like she thinks,” He sighs, “Bye, Iz.”

Hajime hangs up his phone before turning to Komaeda, “Sorry, I should have asked before taking a call in your room.”

“It’s fine,” He hums, “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, Izuru made it to our mom’s place before the storm started.”

“I um-” Komaeda clears his throat, “I meant about your essay. If you were supposed to be working tonight when would you have completed it?”

Hajime shrugs, still typing, “I probably would have spent like twenty or thirty minutes on it after my shift or I would have just handed in my rough draft.”

“Well that doesn’t sound very fun.” Komaeda says lamely.

“I don’t have much of a choice,” He looks up, “Look if you’re going to try and get me to quit my shitty job too, it’s not worth it. Izuru tries to convince me everyday.”

“Working yourself until you’re dead doesn’t sound worth it either.” He shoots back.

Hajime takes the pen out of his mouth and opens his arms, “Then what else am I supposed to do? Starve? Live on the streets? I don’t have any other ideas, but I’m open to suggestions, you know.”

There's silence until Komaeda asks, “How do you afford going to this school then?”

Hajime sighs through his nose, “My mom pays for it. I wasn’t lying when I said Izuru was the only reason I was here in the first place.”

“That’s why you mentioned not wasting your tuition money on the phone,” He freezes, “Sorry I didn’t mean to listen in.”

“It’s your room, and I wasn’t being discreet,” Hajime continues, “When Izuru was scouted, it was around the time where my dad started to take off for weeks at a time, leaving me to figure out how to take care of myself. Izuru was really pissed off when I told him, and at the time I wasn’t planning on going to high school. I wanted to drop out and try and get a full time job.”

“You were what, fourteen?” He asked.

Hajime laughed, “Izuru went behind my mom’s back and said he wouldn’t attend this school if I wasn’t accepted in as well. And since my dad was MIA at the time, she agreed to pay for my tuition for the reserve course.” He pauses, “Which is why I work so hard for my grades, I at least owe Izuru that much.”

Komaeda stares. 

He sighs, “Look, I make it sound a lot more pathetic than it actually is. I mean, who am I to talk when you don’t even have parents?”

“Hajime that has nothing to do with it-” Komaeda starts.

“I didn’t tell you to have pity on me, we hate each other right? No feelings involved, I think we’ve both made that clear.” Hajime says as he turns back to his essay.

Nagito stares at him for a second longer, “Yeah of course. No feelings at all, reserve.”

Komaeda can’t focus on his book after that.

___________________________

They don’t talk for the rest of the night.

Komaeda gets up to throw on a T-shirt and takes off his jeans, leaving him in just his boxers. 

Hajime glances up and shuts his laptop. He’d handed in his essay a little while ago and decided to study for his chemistry test instead. It was nearing almost midnight, however, and he was a guest in this room so if Komaeda wanted to go to sleep, he probably should too.

He quietly puts his belongings away in his bag and lays down, using his backpack as a make-shift pillow.

“...What are you doing?” Komaeda asks with a slight laugh in his voice.

“Going to bed?” He responds.

“Oh the floor?”

“Yeah?”

Hajime could hear Komaeda shuffling before saying, “You’re a dumbass, you know that? We’ve shared a bed before Hajime. I’m not going to make you sleep on the floor.”

Hajime hesitated, sure they’ve shared a bed before, but that was different circumstances. And Komaeda was always gone by the time he woke up anyways. 

“So?” Komaeda asks, gesturing to the space in the bed beside him.

Hajime gets up and makes his way into the bed with Komaeda, who had lifted up the comforter to make room for him.

After a few moments of getting comfortable, Hajime turns his back to him and faces the bathroom. 

He couldn’t sleep. 

Normally had no trouble, since he was always dead exhausted by the time his head hit the pillow, but he couldn’t move around to get more comfortable and risk waking the other up.

Eventually he gets fed up and shifts on his back, only to find Komaeda wide awake and looking back at him.

“Can’t sleep, either?” He asks.

Hajime looked up at him, “Not really. I didn’t want to move around and wake you up.”

He smiles, “Aw, how considerate of you.”

They don’t say anything after that, but Hajime feels Komaeda’s arm make his way underneath him to pull him closer. Hajime freezes before giving in and resting his head on his pale shoulder.

Komaeda’s hand rubbed circles into his arm and Hajime was asleep a few minutes later.

He would later deny leaving a kiss on Hajime’s head before falling asleep himself.

___________________________

When Hajime woke up the next morning, it wasn’t raining anymore and he was still in the same position in which he fell asleep in. 

Hajime carefully tilted his head up, realizing just how close Komaeda’s face was to his. Sure the guy was an asshole when he opened his mouth, but he looked so soft when he was sleeping. His white hair was laid softly on his pillow and Hajime could feel his soft breaths on his head. 

Despite them not getting along, he was pretty thankful Komaeda let him stay. Walking home in the pouring rain was one thing, but returning home to his father was another.

He would never admit it to Komaeda, but he actually enjoyed his company. The days in which he would walk him home made his house a little less lonely. Hajime never had to hold back when they talked to each other, but Komaeda didn’t seem to either.

If he was being honest, it was a bit lonely when he would wake up alone after their nights together, but he would never ask him to stay. That crossed a line in their friends with benefits relationship, and he couldn’t let himself get attached to an Ultimate. He’d just get left behind anyway, he doesn’t have a future like the rest of them.

Still, looking back up at Ko, he closes his eyes once again, he could let himself enjoy it until he can’t.

___________________________

Komaeda is awake by the time Hajime wakes up again. He’s scrolling through something on his phone while mindlessly playing with Hajime’s hair.

He stops however, when he feels Hajime shift.

Hajime pushes himself away, “Sorry, I kind of kept you pinned in place I guess. My bad.”

Komaeda looks up from his phone, debating if he should tell him that this is how they always sleep and that if Komaeda really wanted to, he could have gotten up anyway like he normally does.

Instead, he says, “It’s not like I have plans to get up for.”

Hajime reluctantly sits up, leaving the warmth of Komaeda, and checks his phone.

_ 3 missed calls from [Dad] _

Hajime freezes. 

There weren’t any texts, just calls, no voicemails either. 

He looks back at Komaeda whose arm was still sprawled out on Hajime’s side. He sighs.

He didn’t deserve to be in the presence of an ultimate, anyway. It doesn’t matter if he enjoys his company, Komaeda’s got goals and aspirations in life. Hajime’s got a year and a half left of school before he becomes a dead beat. 

His phone rings again. He silences it before Komaeda could notice.

No delaying the inevitable.

Hajime gets out of bed and grabs his uniform from where he had hung it to dry on the shower bar, and begins to put it on.

Komaeda sat up in bed, running his hand through his hair, “You don’t have to leave immediately you know.”

He starts buttoning his shirt as he says, “You offered me a place to stay for the night because of the storm, right? I think we’re at a break for the time being. I should get out of your hair and make sure everything at home is okay, too.”

It’s not like he was really lying, but if his father called him, there was most likely hell to pay.

He wasn’t willing to take that chance.

“Is  _ he _ still at your house?” Komaeda shoots back with. 

Hajime freezes, “I don’t know, probably. He’s my father, Ko, and he owns the apartment.”

“I don’t get why you put up with it.” He mumbles.

“Put up with what?”

“The abuse. You don’t take shit from any of us, but the guards...and your dad…” He says.

“The guards don’t lay a finger on me-”

“Yeah because I make sure of it.” Komaeda glares.

“Regardless,” He glares back, “I know my place in this world. I’m a reserve course student for a reason, Komaeda. Surely you of all people know that.”

Komaeda begins to get dressed as well, “Being in the reserve course doesn’t mean you deserve this abuse.”

“Abuse? Oh come on, Ko. I’ve already told you that nothing happened with my dad.”

“Hajime, there was a handprint on your arm. That doesn’t just magically happen.” He starts, “And you most definitely punched something, the bruising on your hands proves it.”

Hajime looks away.

“You aren’t an aggressive person, Hajime. Getting that kind of reaction from you is quite difficult, I would know.”

He goes to open his mouth, but Komaeda interrupts him, “Did you even see the way Kamukura was looking at you when you walked in with your injury? None of us have ever seen him show that much emotion, Hajime.”

Hajime was silent for a moment, before speaking quietly, “It’s not his responsibility to look after me. I’m almost 17, I can take care of myself. I’m not anyone’s problem.”

Hajime stands up and throws on his shoes, Komaeda does the same.

“Let me walk you to the gates then.” He says, “Gotta make sure Kamukura doesn’t notice any more bruises, right?”

“Right,” Hajime says as he looks at the ground.

“Huh?” He says as he’s hit in the head with a sweatshirt.

Komaeda laughs at his face, “It makes it less obvious that you’re from the reserve course.”

“Oh, um, thank you.” He throws it over his head, “I’ll wash it so you can wear it the next time you stay over.”

He freezes when he realizes that he just implied it would happen again.

“Cool.” Was all Komaeda says.

___________________________

The walk back to his house was quiet.

He left Komaeda back at the school. Hajime couldn’t let himself get too comfortable,especially after the conversation they’d just had. He could try and trick himself all he wanted, but he was just some ordinary kid. Komaeda always says that his class seemed to believe in him for some reason, but he can’t understand why they would put all of their trust in him.

He’s not an Ultimate, and being around them isn't going to change anything.

He’s just normal, and normal people are below them.

It’s just like Komaeda said back when they first met, he has to know his place in this world. 

And he does.

Regardless of what Komaeda and Izuru think, he wasn’t made to succeed. He’s just there to work for others, putting up with whatever comes his way.

And he was fine with that.

Really, he was.

When he reached his apartment, the door was unlocked, and he just knew.

“Where have you been?” 

His father sat at the table, tapping his fingers against the wood.

“Why are you still here?” Hajime replies.

His father stands up, “I’m an adult, I don’t have to answer to you. You, however, are a kid.”

_ Oh, so now he’s a kid. _

“So let me ask again: where were you last night?” His father asks.

Hajime set his jaw, “I stayed with a friend, the storm was too dangerous to walk home in.”

“That’s a bit irresponsible, don’t you think?” His father glares, “I’m not going to have any grandchildren any time soon, right?”

“It wasn’t like that,” Hajime let out a breath, “It was necessary. Now I’m sorry, but I don’t have a lot of time to talk. I have work in a few hours and some homework to get done before my shift.”

He turns to walk away but his father steps in front of him.

“That reminds me,” His father starts, “I owed a buddy of mine some money, so I borrowed from that stash of yours.”

Hajime froze, “That was my rent money.”

“ _ Our _ rent money, this place is under my name. Therefore, anything in here is mine, that’s just how it works.” he says, “I have to leave tomorrow though, I’ve got a work thing.”

Hajime can’t stop his hands from starting to shake. Rent was due in two weeks, and his normal shifts wouldn’t get him anywhere near the necessary amount. He could probably talk to his boss during his shift that day, see if he could pick one up every day for the next two weeks, on top of his hour of tutoring each day and all of his work for his own classes.

_ It’s necessary _ .  _ Sleep isn’t _ .

His dad stares at him and Hajime doesn’t want to go against what he says.

“Of course.” He says with a tight smile.

He walks towards his room, balling up his fists in the sweatshirt.

Hajime didn’t start crying until he closed the door to his room. He slid to the ground, pulling his knees up to his chest and buried his face in the sleeves of Komaeda’s sweatshirt.

This was his place in the world.

He didn’t deserve anyone’s love.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> I've been working on this fic for a while.  
> I really hope you all enjoy :)  
> Feel free to leave comments!
> 
> -Mae
> 
> (Shout out to my friend Hannah for reading this for me!)


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